The present invention relates generally to agricultural implements, and more particularly to means for resiliently mounting a gang of earthworking tools on the mobile frame of an agricultural implement.
Modern agricultural implements such as disk tillers and disk harrows are becoming wider, longer and heavier as the farmer seeks to improve his productivity and profitability. As the weight of these implements and frames increases, it becomes desirable to mount the tool gangs on the frame in a resilient rather than rigid manner, so that the gangs independently yield to insure that uneven ground is worked to a uniform depth. Additionally, as the width of implement frames increases, shocks encountered by individual implement tools increase, particularly when rocky or stumpy fields are worked.
Various means have been devised for resiliently mounting a gang of earthworking tools on an implement frame. For example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,345, a U-shaped torsion bar is utilized between the gang standard and standard support shaft to provide a cushioning effect in the vertical and fore-and-aft directions. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,348 there is disclosed a resilient standard supporting a disk gang shaft upon which the disk blades are rotatably mounted. This resilient standard cushions shocks absorbed in a transverse direction as well as fore and aft and vertical. However, the shocks are transmitted directly to the shaft supporting the disk blades. When the disk gang shaft or bolt has to absorb shocks encountered in operating, it may bend or after repeated shock loading may fracture. Further, the working tools or disk blades often become misaligned resulting in premature failure of the disk bearings.